Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,046,298 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.94% of Lazard worth $53,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

Lazard Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.35. The company had a trading volume of 121,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,304. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.25 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The firm's 50 day moving average is $51.26 and its 200-day moving average is $45.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. This represents a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 over the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Lazard

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.